The Latest:
As Iran and the United States moved closer this week to a possible agreement to halt hostilities, a small but vocal hard-line faction stepped up efforts to block the negotiations.
The group, which holds positions in parliament and the Supreme National Security Council, has used rallies, state media and public statements to oppose any concessions to Washington.
Details:
• State television, controlled by a hard-line director, has amplified criticism of the talks and presented them as a failure.
• President Masoud Pezeshkian rebuked the broadcaster for sowing division, noting that the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had endorsed returning to negotiations.
• Hard-line supporters at a rally in Tehran on Friday chanted for continued resistance against the United States and Israel.
• Conservative lawmaker Ebrahim Azizi stated that Iran, as the “victor,” should dictate the terms of any agreement.
• Hard-line cleric Hamid Rasaee indirectly criticized Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei in a social media post before partially retracting his remarks.
• Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, accused the negotiating team of excessive concessions in talks with US Vice President JD Vance in Islamabad, according to senior Iranian officials cited by The New York Times.
• Bagheri Kani refused to sign an earlier joint letter from President Pezeshkian and lead negotiator Gen. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf that warned of severe economic risks and possible unrest without a deal, the officials said.
• Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has expressed support for the negotiating team and called on lawmakers to avoid internal political divisions.
What to Watch:
The key test remains whether Iran’s leadership can advance the negotiations while containing hard-line dissent and preventing it from escalating into a broader domestic crisis.
